An ultrasensitive rapid-response fluorescent probe for highly selective detection of HSA

Abstract A fluorescent probe HCAB based on twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) mechanism has been designed and synthesized by introducing benzoyl moiety to 4-dimethylamino-2′-hydroxychalcone. HCAB showed excellent selectivity towards human serum albumin (HSA) among different proteins with a remarkable 160-fold fluorescence enhancement and a wider linear range 0–100 mg/L of HSA. Job’s Plot analysis suggested that the formation of HCAB-HSA complex followed a 1:1 stoichiometry. Molecular docking and the displacement assay demonstrated the binding site of HCAB was subdomain IIA and IB of HSA. We also tested HSA levels in human plasma for practical application, the results obtained from HCAB method were similar to those obtained from the standard clinical method.